Lucic’s mother Snezana told Megan Stewart of The Courier: “There is a certain amount of tension right now. It’s not all of Vancouver, just certain individuals.”

Stewart also writes that a planned public event at a local beach and park was scrapped because of the violent way some have reacted to Lucic and the Bruins’ victory.

Stewart writes:

At the annual Greek summer festival that shuts down a section of Boundary Road, the presence of the six-foot-four, 220pound former Vancouver Giant was enough to inspire fisticuffs. Lucic didn’t brawl. But words and then blows were exchanged in the crowd around him-you could say because of him, but that assertion would be false. Poor sportsmanship is the cause. That same seething and riotous beast that awoke when the Canucks Cup destiny wasn’t fulfilled, entrenching the continent’s adopted and perplexing hate-on for the club during the playoffs.

Well, so much for the theory that it was just “anarchists” who rioted after Game 7. Hopefully those who have nothing to do with Vancouver’s poor sportsmanship will get an opportunity to glance at the Cup somehow, someway, if they wish.

Nonetheless, it’s a poor reflection on the city — especially considering the joyous reception the Cup and the Bruins players have received in other areas that have deeper reasons to dislike Boston and the Bruins (Quebec City, Toronto, Ottawa).

Here’s hoping Vancouver finds a way to peacefully move on at some point. There’s another season right around the corner.

ok, i know i’m way behind in responding when it comes to this story so no need to point it out.

but i am i diehard nucks fan. period. i knew lucic was coming with the cup, and honestly i just didn’t care. a lot of the city didn’t. good for him. i commend boston on their championship. but to say we’re poor sports b/c we don’t cheer the other teams player is just dumb.

yes, there were people that would probably cause trouble like in any city. but honestly, if a bostonian say for example played for the yankees (i know it’s not possible b/c they play in the same league, just work with me here) and won the world series then brought the trophy back to beantown, he would honestly get a warm recectpion? gimme a break!!

boston would give the cold shoulder to their native son just like vancouver is pretty indifferent about lucic.

Anon
The word ignorant means dumb or misinformed. All the things I stated were true, the facts speak for themselves. You are right that there are many Canuck fans that probably respect the efforts of Lucic, but they haven’t spoken up. The other nifty is right that the good people allowed the hooligans to do there foolishness. I know there were a few incidents of people trying to help, but very few. These are the things that should be done in order to put this incident/riot in the past:
1 Arrest/charge everyone of the those punks that caused damage.
2 The Premier, Mayor, GM and Coach should do the following:
a Apologize to the Bruins and the NHL for the riot. My brother-in-law said there were lineups at all downtown bars, by noon, on the day of Game 7. Someone should have figured out there was going to be trouble, win or lose. The riots changed the focus from the Bruins victory to the poor behavior of Canuck fans.
b Apologize to Johnny Boychuk and his parents. This should have been a joyous occassion for them. They should not be harassed at the airport and game for wearing Bruin colors. In the US and Canada there is a right called freedom of expression.
3 The BC government/City of Vancouver/New Westminster should have something to honor the success of Cam Neely, Milan Lucic, and Mark Recchi. BC is their home province and the elected officials should remember that.
Back to Boston Milan
Punks don’t run away from others. Your team had no one who wanted any part of Lucic.
Jean Phillipe Tremblay
If you really are a Hab fan. then you should have noted the only way the your squad scored in game six was when they had a “2” man advantage. I honestly think any NHL team would welcome the success of individuals more than what Vancouver is doing now. If you are Quebecker, look at the crowds that came out for Patrice Bergeron. I’m sure some of those people would root for the Habs against the Bruins.

Here is my take on Habs fans.. Actually I have no take on them, I simply look at them and if one opens his mouth I drop them with a straight right fist to the face.. There really is no other way to accept a Hab fan.. Consider it a greeting like a smile or a handshake.. So the next time you are walking down the street babbling about conspiracy theories and prison terms regarding the Bruins consider the gentleman walking toward you is a Bruin fan like me, perhaps he will greet you the way Bruin fans should.. A fist to the face, that would be fun don’t you think?

Heard an interesting commentary on the radio this morning – to date, 600 people have been charged in connection with the recent riots in London, England. To date, EIGHT WEEKS after the fact, NO charges have been laid in connection with the riots in Vancouver after game 7. Pretty sad, Vancouver!

Hey PatriceD,
Here is my take on it. Bruins fans make me laugh. Can you imagine what the Bruins fans would be like if PK Subban, Aaron Rome, the LA Lakers or the NY Yankees brought a celebration to Boston after beating your team. I am sure you guys would welcome them all and go celebrate with them. Come on.
And Gibbz, I suggest you waste 25$ and go buy the Bruins Playoff DVD that some posters have talked about. Watch all the games the Bruins played in the playoffs on the DVD and you will notice 1 things. Not a single call from an official went against the Bruins. Not 1 single call. It was so obvious that the fix was in. So I am sure that Lucic wants to keep his celebration private because he is probably embarressed about how the Bruins won and it probably doesn’t feel like a real win to him. Just my thoughts. By the way RD is a good poster.

This is a pretty god read so far. Everyone is being nice for the most part, RD chimes in with a sensible opinion from Habland and no sign of JPT. However @Luke…what is “ecological fallacy”. I have read it a few times and I still don’t understand what it means.

It’s a shame that player who wins the stanley cup can’t go home to show it off to his friends and family. However, as much as you guys like Lucic, and as much as everyone else wishes they had him on their squad, he’s a pretty polarizing guy. As a player, he’s a focal point of animosity from most cities, and I’m sure particularly Vancouver. I’d equate to imagining the habs winning the cup and PK bringing it home to his home town of Revere. Of course non of that is true but maybe that wouldn’t go so well.

You guys talked about the riots a bit. I don’t think this reflects on all Vancouverites. That crowd was simply too large. It might have looked like they were all rioting but it was a smaller group hidden in the massive throng. The same thing happened in Montreal a few years back and it comes down to the same group and type of person. The same types always act up when the G8 or G20 hits a major city.

@BackToBostonMilan… For individuals like you, only in time you will grow up (well, hopefully).

Boston’s team may not be full of individual super-stars — as some would put it, “the most talented” of players — but everyone played a key part and they won as a TEAM. Throughout the playoffs, Boston had their share of bad- or non-calls, but in the end a team has to overcome adversity and inconsistencies in order to win. To classify Boston’s championship a result of poor officiating is pathetic; simply put, Vancouver lost. It seems as though with the childish behaviour (notice the spelling? Yes, I’m Canadian) of some Canucks fans, their city lost as well.

A few dozen people go on a rampage and the other one hundred thousand would rather get shots on their cell phones than do anything. This could have been quelched if a hundred people out of thousands had any guts or cared about their beautiful city. I got news for you. lt’s not the mountains or the fountains that make a city. It’s the people. I’d be ashamed to say I was a Vancouverite. The people of Vancouver use words like unfortunate. Missing a bus is unfortunate. Not a riot. All of Canada looks at Vancouver with disgust. That’s unfortunate.

I find it hard to accept the “unfortunate minority” opinion when rioters are wearing Canucks jerseys and attending a downtown viewing party of the game. They were hockey fans. People didn’t haphazardly walk out of their apartments coincidentally when the game ended and decided, “Hey, now seems like a good time to break some windows and steal crap.”

That being said, what Vancouver residents fail to understand is that these problems actually happened. Brushing it under the rug and saying it didn’t reflect any deeper issue is naive. People are just making more excuses, instead of showing remorse and a determination to change the predominant culture. As long as Canucks fans think that Boston was lucky in winning, the healing will never start. You praise the other team, show respect, recharge the batteries and go at it again the next season. That’s what Philly did. That’s what Detroit and Pittsburgh did. No bitter whining, no excuses, no finger-pointing from those citizens.

For Lucic, these things aren’t decided in a vacuum. I guarantee that he has been advised on the issue, and city officials likely reinforced his instincts that any celebration should be toned down. Perhaps a better way to do it would be in a controlled environment…take it to the rink he used to play at and let folks file in and enjoy it. Anything but a large mass gathering.

BacktoBoston Milan,
Did you lose your pacifier or touch with reality? Vancouver is WAAAAAAAAAAAY dirtier than Detroit and only slightly more talented (for now) and I do believe Pittsburgh is more talented than Vancouver at present and ostensibly has the best player in the game. Are they dirty? Does Matt Cooke still reside on their team? Get over your loss and come back to reality where hockey players hit each other, this isn’t the KHL after all.

To several,
I do believe I alluded to the fact Boston has a history of riots after the final games in series. I also don’t seem to recall manifestations of lingering resentment in Boston during the summer, and I do believe that is the topic of the day. Yes, this may be a vocal minority, but most cities do a better job of getting their idiots to shut up.

Can’t blame him for keeping it private, clearly his family has been victimized by a few “individuals”, let’s not generalize here. Also Lucic’s grandmother /family had drinks thrown on them during the SCF, so I think hes more looking out for his family than being “chicken” like this moron two comments above me said. BTW backtobostonmilan – talk about didn’t deserve it? The whole league was rooting against your “talented” Canucks because they are worthless dirty divers, if anyone didn’t deserve to win it was the Canucks. Good luck winning anything in the future with a weak goalie, dumb coach, and ginger twin sissy captains who dive constantly. Your team was penalized twice in one game for embellishment in the Stanley Cup Finals!!!!!! For crying out loud!!!!!!!

We only hear about the outspoken, vocal, and occasionally violent minority. The actions of one or a few person(s) does not represent the city as a whole, there’s not even enough negative evidence to call this ecological fallacy, the violent folks are outliers (Anon pointed this out above). The city of Vancouver has many things to be proud of, Lucic is one of them. From a Bruin fan and a Boston native.

The riots were unfortunate, but are not exclusively Vancouver like. Digger pointed out an example and UMass has a penchant for rioting, people riot about their passion or livelihood(see London) nothing to be proud of, but also something we cannot be on a high horse about. We as individuals (non-rioters) can say “oh WE would never do that!” but that is ecological fallacy. Analyzing group mentality is astoundingly complex, and widespread generalizations do nothing but breed hatred.

Also remember that comment boards, due to their anonymous nature, bring out the worst in the most extreme people.

Digger,
That girl was shot after she refused to listen to the cops and leave. Those people were breaking the rules. It was a shame someone got hurt but if that girl had listened to the cops and left she would still be alive. That was an accident PLUS it was College kids. They start a lot of the trouble that goes on after baseball.

There are always jerks in every city. That being said I am a Bruins fan and NO ONE would want to see that cup in Boston if the situations were revered. I would be pretty poed if they brought the cup here and tried celebrating it if they beat us. Would I start trouble? no but I wouldn’t appreciate it and neither would ANY other Bostonian. Imagine the Lakers bringing their trophy here in 08. I can tell you the fans would have started all kinds of trouble.

I saw a fight at Fenway when the lakers beat the Celtics because the Celtics fans couldn’t handle it.

lol this is the stupidest article. I was actually there for his Cup day celebration and the only Vancouverites I saw were shaking his hand and congratulating him. Anything to make us look bad, right Boston? Get real.
DON’T BELIEVE EVERYTHIN YOU READ PEOPLE

I don’t see why Lucic is chicken now with Celebrating in Vancouver since he plays so dirty on the ice why does he have to hide in Public?
Canucks fans are unhappy loosing to a team that just does not deserve it! The Bruins have no talent Like Pittsburgh or Detroit they are just a bunch of Punks and Thugs who got away with lots of Penalties and had a good Goalie. That’s it! Go back to your hometown of Boston Milan! Your a Punk on a Punks Team!

It’s too bad Lucic doesn’t feel safe celebrating with the public. I went to the reg saeson game between B’s and Nucks in Vancouver and there were a lot of Bruins fans in attendance. I’m sure if someone wanted to rain on Luc’s parade they would be dealt with. Boston fans seem to forget when the Red Sox won. There was a lot of damage and a young female student/rioter was accidently shot by police. The BPD doesn’t have such a lax attitude towards public celebrations anymore and I bet the VPD has learned it’s lesson too.

As a Vancouverite (but not a Canucks fan), I can truthfully say that the Canucks fan base is nothing short of shameful when it comes to taking losses and admitting defeat. The riot didn’t surprise me or a lot of people AT ALL. You can say it was completely expected.

I really want to congratulate Milan in person but thanks to the hooliganism and the classlessness of many of the Canucks fans, I can’t do that anymore. There’s a reason why even people who normally dislike Boston teams (such as myself) were driven to cheer for the Bruins.

David
You are right. Both Jacque Martin (Hab Coach) and Pierre Gauthier (Hab GM) commended the Bruins for the efforts, following their game 7 loss to the B’s. As for Bergeron, it appeared like he was treated as if he were a conquering king. Good for him!

Mac,
I believe the phrasing was “dislike” not “envy.” So sure, no one is more envious of the Bruins than the Canucks right now, but envy is not dislike. The Canadiens have decades of reasons to HATE the Bruins, yet they are celebrating as Bergeron takes the Cup around Quebec. Boston certainly has a history of celebrations/venting getting ugly, but we don’t go out and get into fights with the people who win (except maybe Damon, but that’s a poor story.)

I am sure there are some grownups, but you guys need to get a handle on your hooligan problem!

@bruins16 What you said there was completely ignorant. To even generalize the whole city and associate Vancouver as a whole with that riot is even more ridiculous than the riot itself. I am a Vancouver Canucks fan, and I myself nor have any of the others fans I know have participated in the riot. Please do not associate us real fans with a bunch of immature fucks who didn’t have a better excuse other than ‘mob mentality’ to participate in that riot. I completely respect Milan Lucic and I’m so happy to hear that the cup is coming to Vancouver. It is a shame that they have to keep his celebration private though it would’ve been awesome to meet him and see the cup. A majority of us like Lucic and would even love if he played for us one day, as he once said that he wouldn’t mind either.

The city of Vancouver is an embarassment to the NHL and Canada. Their reaction to being beat was classless. Other Canadian cities (Edmonton, Calgary, and Montreal) have lost out late in the playoffs, and there never was the reaction that we saw in Vancouver. There were no riots in Philadelphia last spring when they lost to the Hawks. Johnny Boychuk’s parents flew in from Edmonton, during the playoffs, and they were roughed up. Part of the problem is that Vancouver has a number of players that embelish hits in order to draw penalties. Fans see this and they draw the wrong conclusions. As well, their GM whines about calls continously.
A number of fans of other teams came up to me during the playoffs, and told me that for the first time in their lives they were rooting for the Bruins. They were sick and tired of Vancouver trying to draw ref calls.
Their treatment of Lucic is despictable. He is probably one of the top three power forwards in hockey today. To not embrace his success, shows a lack of respect for him and what he meant to the Bruins. ( I think his best moment was when he grabbed Alex Burroughs, who was trying to draw a call against Lucic, and then slammed him against the boards, behind the net.) The mayor should step up and give him a luncheon to honor his efforts. She probably would enjoy that more than sweeping broken glass, the day after game seven.

Hah. Sorry, I haven’t heard one person give any Ill-will towards Lucic. He’s still a hometown boy, and him getting the cup in his hometown was the sweetest part of a rather bitter moment. Vancouver, for the most part, has moved on. We’re already back to “trade Luongo” and “fire Vigneault” chants around town. Guaranteed that nothing would have happened had Luc decided to throw a celebration around town, because the group that supports him winning the cup would have been 20 times of any group of whiny, butt hurt pansy poor sports.

As a Vancouverite and a Canucks fan, I mean it when I say I’m truly happy for Milan Lucic. Having a private gathering is the best thing he could do in this situation. There are some real idiots in this city.

That being said, you’re being unfair when you claim that Vancouver needs to be over the loss this soon and that there are other cities which should be more envious. It’s bad enough that the Canucks fell flat on home ice in game 7 of the finals, and remain championshipless after 40 years of existence.